Hollow walled tray

ABSTRACT

A hollow walled tray is provided including a generally rectangular bottom panel, and wall structures hinged to the side and end edges thereof. Each wall structure includes an outer wall panel, a top wall panel, an inner wall panel, and a glue flap. The wall structures are all folded inwardly to overlie the bottom, with the ends of the top panels of one opposed pair of wall structures overlying the ends of the top panel of the other opposed pair of wall structures. When the wall structures are folded outwardly and upwardly into erect form, the inner wall panels of the first opposed wall structure engage between the inner wall surfaces of the other wall structures, automatically locking the walls in hollow tubular relation.

United States Patent 906,310 12/1908 Scruby FOREIGN PATENTS 663.947 1/1965 Belgium ABSTRACT: A hollow walled tray is provided including a generally rectangular bottom panel. and wall structures hinged to the side and end edges thereof, Each wall structure includes an outer wall panel, a top wall panel, an inner wall panel, and a glue flap. The wall structures are all folded inwardly to overlie the bottom, with the ends of the top panels of one opposed pair of wall structures'overlying the ends of the top panel of the other opposed pair of wall structures. When the wall structures are folded outwardly and upwardly into erect form, the inner wall panels of the first opposed wall structure engage between the inner wall surfaces of the other wall structures, automatically locking the walls in hollow tubular relation.

ELEGEEUU PATENTED SEP YIQII ATTORNEY HOLLOW WALLEIJ TRAY This invention relates to an improvement in hollow walled tray and dealsparticularly with a display tray for use in containing flat relatively thin items such as jigsaw puzzlesand the like.

BACKGROUND'OF THE INVENTION A great number of hollow walled trays have been produced both for display purposes and for protecting fragile items. In most instances, each hollow wall includes an outer peripheral wall panel, a top display panel,.an inner wall panel, and a glue flap. The glue flaps are adhered in face contact with the bottom panel so that the walls may be shipped and stored in flat form. When the tray is to used, the various walls are folded into rectangular relatiomand the corners are normally interlocked in some manner to hold the various walls in their proper relation.

. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I have found that in structures in which the outer peripheral walls and inner walls are of equal shallow depth, it is possible to provide a construction which functions automatically to lock the walls in erect position, thus avoiding the step of interlocking each corner separately. As a result, considerable time may be saved in setting up the trays for use.

In the formation of the present hollow wall tray, two opposed walls are formed by folding these walls at the junctures between the top display panels and the inner walls to fold the inner walls and glue flaps in face contact with the under surfaces of the front wall, and folding the panels along the lines of fold connecting the outer peripheral walls to the bottom panel to provide a flat tubular wall structure completely overlying the bottom panel. The glue flaps are adhered to the upper sur face of the bottom panel. For the purpose of orientation, these first folded walls may be described as the sidewalls.

The remaining two wall structures, which may be considered the end walls for the purpose of description, are then folded in much the same manner, the inner wall and glue flap being folded along the fold line connecting the inner wall to the top display panel, and the structure being again folded along the line of fold connecting the outer peripheral wall to the bottom panel. The inner wall of each end wall structure is of a length substantially equal to the distance between the inner walls of the sidewall structures when the walls are erect. The glue flaps of the end wall structures are somewhat shorter than the inner walls thereof so that the end wall structure glue flaps may be folded into flat contact with the bottom panel between the sidewall structures. The end wall glue flaps are anchored to the bottom panels only near the longitudinal center thereof. As a result, the ends of the end wall structures are free to flex away from the bottom panel a distance equal to the depth of the inner and outer walls. Thus, the depth of the tray is limited by the dimensions of the tray as the two opposed end walls must be able to flex away from the bottom panel a distance equal to the depth of the sidewall. The end wall top display panels may extend the full width of the bottom panel or may extend diagonally.

With this arrangement, the walls may be set up to form rectangular hollow walls by merely folding the end walls upwardly and outwardly in a hollow rectangular form. During this operation, the sidewalls remain in flat folded condition with portions of the top display panels underlying the ends of the inner sidewalls of the end wall structures. The sidewall structures are then folded upwardly and outwardly, this action causing the end portions of the end wall structures to flex away from the bottom panel until the sidewalls are erect. At this point, the inner sidewalls of the end wail structures snap inwardly of the inner walls of the sidewall structures holding the walls in proper erected position. The natural tendency for the wall structures to fold inwardly holds the corners engaged without further manipulation.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully. set forth in the following specification and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of the tray in erected form.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the tray inflat-folded form.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one corner of the flat folded tray.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view through one of the sidewalls looking toward the erected end wall as the sidewalls are being erected.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the structure when the folding is complete. I

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the tray is formed, the view showing areas to which the glue is attached.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The tray blank is constructed as best illustrated in FIG. 6 of the drawings and indicated in general by the letter A. The blank includes the bottom panel 10 which is connected along parallel fold lines 11 to shallow outer peripheral sidewalls 112. The outer sidewalls R2 are connected along fold lines 13 to top display panels 14. The top display panels 14 are connected along fold lines 15 to inner sidewalls 16. The inner sidewalls 16 are connected along parallel fold lines 17 to glue flaps 19.

The bottom panel 10 is connected along its ends by fold lines 20 to outer peripheral end walls 21. The-outer end walls 21 are connected by fold lines 22 to top display panels 23. The top display panels 23 are connected along fold lines 24 to inner end walls 25. These inner end walls 25 are connected along the parallel fold lines 26 to end wall structure glue flaps 27. As will be understood, the bottom panel 10 is rectangular, so that the fold lines in the end wall structures are at right angles to the fold lines in the sidewall structures.

In folding the tray, the sides of the blank are first folded inwardly along the fold lines 15 so that the outer sidewalls I6 and glue flaps l9 lie flat against the inner surface of the top display panels 14 and inner sidewalls 12. The sidewalls are then again folded along the fold lines Ill and the glue flaps 19 are attached to the bottom panel 1.0 along the generally rectangular areas 30 shown in broken lines upon the bottom panel Ml. Actually, the adhesive is normally applied to the glue flaps 19 which are then folded into face contact with the bottom panel. The tubular sidewalls are then complete in flat folded form.

The end wall structures are next folded in a similar manner. It will be noted that the inner end walls 25 of the end wall structures are of a length equal to the distance between the inner sidewalls 116 of the sidewall flap structures when the sidewalls 16 are at right angles to the bottom panel 10, while the glue flaps 27 are no greater in length than the distance between the fold lines when the flap structures are inwardly folded as indicated in FIG. 2. The glue flaps 27 and the inner end walls 25 of the end wall structures are folded along the fold lines 24 so that the inner end walls 25 and glue flap 27 are in face contact with the top display panels 23 and outer end walls 211. The combined folded structure is then folded inwardly along the fold lines 2t) so that the ends of the top display panels 23, and the ends of the inner end walls 25 overlie portions of the sidewall structures. The glue flaps 27 are adhered to the bottom panel it) in a relatively small area defined by the rectangularly arranged broken lines 31. The glue areas 3ll are arranged only at the center portion of the end wall structures and are of a length materially shorter than the length of the glue flaps 27. This arrangement is provided so that the ends of the end wall structures: may flex away from the bottom panel as will be described.

When folded, the blanks appear as indicated in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the blanks being of the same outlined shape as the bottom panel 10. The blanks are shipped and stored in this condition.

When the trays are to be set up for filling, the end wall structures are folded upwardly and outwardly so that the inner and outer end walls 25 and 21 are in substantially right angular relation to the bottom panel. The sidewall structures are then folded upwardly and outwardly in the matter diagrammati cally illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings.

When the juncture between the top display panels 14 and the inner sidewall 16 of the sidewall structures swing beyond the ends of the inner end wall 25 of the end wall structure, the end wall structure snaps back into place as shown in FIG. 5, the inner end walls 25 thereof engaging against the inner sidewalls 16 of the sidewall structure. The normal tendency for all of the wall structures to fold inwardly causes the hollow wall tray to remain assembled. The product is then placed in the cavity between the inner end walls of the wall structures, and the product may be held in place if desired by overwrapping the tray and its product with cellophane or other suitable transparent film.

lclaim:

l. A hollow walled tray including,

a rectangular bottom panel,

, side and end wall tubular structures hinged to the sides and ends of said bottom panel,

each wall structure including, in series, an outer wall panel,

a top panel, an inner wall panel, and a glue flap, the outer wall panels being hinged to the edges of said bottom panel,

the inner wall panels of said end wall structures being unsevered along their entire lengths,

means securing the glue flaps of said sidewall structures to said bottom panel throughout at least the major portion of the length thereof,

means, of a length materially shorter than the length of said glue flaps of said end wall structures, securing the flaps to said bottom panel only at the center portions thereof,

whereby the longitudinal ends of said glue flaps are free of attachment and able to flex away from said bottom panel,

all of said wall structures overlying said bottom panel, with the longitudinal ends of the endwall structures overlying the longitudinal ends of the sidewall structures in flat folded condition thereof, with end portions of the inner wall panels of said end wall structures in face contact with portions of said top panels of said sidewall structures in the flat folded condition thereof, whereby when said end wall structures are folded into rectangular tubular relation and said sidewall structures are folded toward rectangular tubular relation, the end portions of the end wall structures will be flexed away from said bottom panels until said sidewall structures are erected,

the inner wall panels of said end wall structures being of a length substantially equal to the distance between the inner wall panels of said sidewall structures when said sidewall structures are erected into hollow tubular relation with the inner and outer panels at right angles to said bottom panel, whereby said inner wall panels of said end wall structures will move between said inner wall panels of said sidewall structures to hold said sidewall structure erect.

2. The structure of Claim 1 and in which at least portions of the top panels of said end wall structures are of a length substantially equal to the distance between the fold lines connecting said sidewall structures to said bottom panel.

3. The structure of Claim 1 and in which the flat form of the wall structures, the outer wall panel and top panel are substantially coplanar, and the inner wall panel and glue flap are in a common plane between the outer wall panel and top panel and the bottom panel. 

1. A hollow walled tray including, a rectangular bottom panel, side and end wall tubular structures hinged to the sides and ends of said bottom panel, each wall structure including, in series, an outer wall panel, a top panel, an inner wall panel, and a glue flap, the outer wall panels being hinged to the edges of said bottom panel, the inner wall panels of said end wall structures being unsevered along their entire lengths, means securing the glue flaps of said sidewall structures to said bottom panel throughout at least the major portion of the length thereof, means, of a length materially shorter than the length of said glue flaps of said end wall structures, securing the flaps to said bottom panel only at the center portions thereof, whereby the longitudinal ends of said glue flaps are free of attachment and able to flex away from said bottom panel, all of said wall structures overlying said bottom panel, with the longitudinal ends of the end wall structures overlying the longitudinal ends of the sidewall structures in flat folded condition thereof, with end portions of the inner wall panels of said end wall structures in face contact with portions of said top panels of said sidewall structures in the flat folded condition thereof, whereby when said end wall structures are folded into rectangular tubular relation and said sidewall structures are folded toward rectangular tubular relation, the end portions of the end wall structures will be flexed away from said bottom panels until said sidewall structures are erected, the inner wall panels of said end wall structures being of a length substantially equal to the distance between the inner wall panels of said sidewall structures when said sidewall structures are erected into hollow tubular relation with thE inner and outer panels at right angles to said bottom panel, whereby said inner wall panels of said end wall structures will move between said inner wall panels of said sidewall structures to hold said sidewall structure erect.
 2. The structure of Claim 1 and in which at least portions of the top panels of said end wall structures are of a length substantially equal to the distance between the fold lines connecting said sidewall structures to said bottom panel.
 3. The structure of Claim 1 and in which the flat form of the wall structures, the outer wall panel and top panel are substantially coplanar, and the inner wall panel and glue flap are in a common plane between the outer wall panel and top panel and the bottom panel. 